1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bird feeder. The feeder is specifically designed to be suitable for feeding birds of the ratite variety.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ratite birds are uniformly selective regarding the condition of pelletized food. Namely, they will ignore such food if it significantly comprises small particles arising from crumbling or disintegration of the pellets.
For health reasons, and to avoid waste, it is necessary to maintain the food dry. For economic reasons, it is generally desirable to minimize waste.
Ratite birds have characteristics requiring special accommodation for successful breeding. One characteristic is that the eggs are porous, and a fetus therewithin is easily killed by contamination from feces. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to locate a feeder distant from a shelter.
Most animal species can have feeders located indoors, as in the animal's shelter, for protecting the feeder from rain. But because of the contamination problem, a ratite feeder is best located away from the shelter. This necessitates a separate shelter structure designed to discourage nesting.
For convenience and economic reasons, it is desirable to provide a feeder which functions without frequent attention. The answer to this situation in the prior art has generally been to make the feeder larger. A large feeder, however, will not serve small chicks. In the early days after hatching, ratite birds will exist from nutrients absorbed prior to hatching. They will then make the transition to eating dry food. It is inconvenient and wasteful to provide a plurality of sizes of feeders. Also, there is no assurance that adult birds will eat only from the largest feeder available.
Some ratite birds are curious and playful, and will potentially destructively play with environmental objects. It is the experience of the applicant that ostriches in particular can kick over feeding drums and have been known to open gates by manipulating the latches. It is very likely that they will grasp small projections from a feeder, especially if the projection moves relative to the body of the feeder. A ratite feeder must therefore be constructed to avoid delicate construction.
Prior art feeders are generally concerned with the mechanics of dispensing, and the specialized problems described above are not at issue in the field of general purpose feeders. Most feeders are simple storage devices which dispense feed responsive to gravity. They are usually arranged to be mounted on a vertical surface, or to depend from a fastener or support. Therefore, feeders usually include a hopper or similar storage receptacle, open at the top or covered, a constricted neck for dispensing food, and a trough holding dispensed food and making this food accessible to animals.
Ratites tend to peck vigorously at their food, which action scatters the food if not confined. Therefore, the relatively open prior art feeding troughs are disadvantageous with ratite birds.
The following references exemplify feeders, generally: U.S. Pat. No. 351,505, issued to Joseph W. Fiske on Oct. 26, 1886; U.S. Pat. No. 453,817, issued to Joseph S. Mills on Jun. 9, 1891; U.S. Pat. No. 902,682, issued to Andrew Peterson on Nov. 3, 1908; U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,826, issued to Sam Portelli on Oct. 9, 1973; U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,301, issued to Thomas O. Nass on Jul. 27, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. Design 154,407, issued to Freda C. McCutcheon on Jul. 5, 1949; French Pat. No. 2,561,867, dated Oct. 4, 1985; and German Pat. No. 810,677, dated Aug. 13, 1951.
The French reference discloses slidable doors enabling access to the feeding chamber. The German reference discloses a roof structure having overhang.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.